Warsaw GA, 2015

The Assembly of the Pirate Parties International have issued following resolutions during its meeting in Warsaw, Poland and call upon the Members of PPI to ratify this declarations timely by a suitable vehicle:

Access to medicine

We deem the universal access to medicine and medical treatment as a human right.

In particular, people in developing and least developed countries must also have access to medicine beyond the restrictions of patenting systems. Patents that hinder the fight against diseases should be subject to compulsory licensing.

Since the economics of medical technology makes research and development into non-patentable medical techniques uneconomic for corporations, other solutions have to be found in order to guarantee the funding (public or otherwise) of neglected diseases and to test the effectiveness of substances currently illegal for therapeutic purposes to make them available if successful.

Therefore, us Pirates propose a WHO funding for financing research on neglected diseases.

Further blocking of scientific work based solely on dogmatic arguments is no longer acceptable.

Patients must not be hindered in their free choice of treatment. Well trained, responsible physicians and informed patients must have the full responsibility for choosing the substances used for treatment.

The dangers of all used substances must be fully disclosed.

Copyright

Pirates want a fair and balanced copyright law based on the interests of society as a whole.

We strive for the abolition of information monopolies. As for now the only beneficiaries of the monopolies are huge corporations, while the market as a whole is failing. This market failure is apparent by the frequent bullying of individuals and SMEs by collecting societies and the loss of orphan works to society. Our goal is to create an environment where the motivation to create goes hand in hand with freedom of information.

Improved public availability of information, knowledge and culture is a prerequisite for the social, technological and economic development of our society. Pirates therefore demand that copying, storing, using and providing access to literary and artistic works for non-commercial purposes must not only be legalised but protected by law and actively promoted. Everyone shall be able to enjoy and share our cultural heritage free from the threat of legal action or censorship.

The commercial monopoly given by copyright should be restored to a reasonable term. Derivative works shall always be permitted, with exceptions that are very specifically enumerated in law with minimal room for interpretation.

The internet as a medium should know no borders. Pirates consider artificial national barriers for cultural goods a hindrance to the global trade and demand their abolishment. A change of approach is required in the area of rights to intangible goods and their respective enforcement practices.

Further monopolies in the sectors of information and culture have to be prevented. By law, states should only allow or maintain monopoly rights for intangible goods if these are in the public interest. Any monopoly rights must be temporally limited, neither their time-span nor their scope may be expanded retrospectively.

The creation of commons, such as free software, free cultural goods, open patent pools and free and open educational material, must be promoted and legally protected.

Social life, increasingly taking place in digital spaces, must not be restricted by monopoly rights over intangible goods. The introduction of “fair use” regulations will ensure that social interactions remain unencumbered.

Each collecting society must ensure comprehensive transparency, fair participatory rights for their members and fairer contract terms for artists.

Net Neutrality

The principle of network neutrality must by inforced by law in each and every country to ensure strong incentives for investment, fair competition and equal treatment of everybody in the digital space.

We consider the freedom of information as an universal human right, and the net neutrality a necessary mean to it.

Everyone must be able to have access to an Internet connection that does not discriminate against any service or competitor. Traffic management measures shall only be allowed in exceptional circumstances, operated in a clear and transparent manner and only for technical reasons.

Non-discriminatory access to the Internet must apply uniformly across the whole world. We reject measures by the telecommunications companies that threaten freedom of access.

Basic Income

Pirates see labor not just as a tradeable commodity, but also as a person's individual achievement. Respect for human dignity therefore commands that each person can decide freely which occupation he or she wishes to pursue and which job to take, but also that such services be adequately compensated.

Thanks to technological development it is no longer necessary that each monotonous, senseless or even dangerous task be performed by humans. We welcome and wish to promote this significant advance. Hence we consider the goal of absolute full employment as outdated and not socially desirable. Instead, we want to achieve that all people receive their adequate share of the general wealth; to this end, we will consider the introduction of a basic income guarantee.

Privacy

Pirates are committed to privacy and corresponding civil liberties of all human beings worldwide. We will never tolerate state driven surveillance measures of any kind.
Adequate protection against crime is an important responsibility of the state. We must ensure this responsibility is fulfilled through an intelligent, rational and evidence-based security policy without surveillance.

The practice of routine, automated and untargeted data collection, storage and matching is to be abolished.
Anyone subject to state surveillance should be informed of these facts in due time to safeguard against abuse.

No to TTIP

The Assembly of Members of Pirate Parties International Strictly oppose international treaties enforcing broken monopolies hindering developing countries or human rights and freedoms. Thus, we

Strictly oppose TTIP

Support the protest movement all over the world

Urge the European Parliament and both houses of the U.S. Congress not to consent to TTIP

Call for ex-ante and ex-post human rights impact assessments to be conducted for every trade agreement.

Transparency of the Public Sector

The public sector, including private entities carrying out work on behalf of a public body, must be transparent. Pirates believe that it is a fundamental right of citizens to inspect, without the need for any specific justification, all contracts or financial benefits related to the delivery of public sector or government projects and services.

Pirates advocate for general and comprehensive legislation to protect persons who expose issues that are in the public interest, such as cases of corruption, insider trading, or ethics or human rights violations (“whistle-blowers”).

Kazan GA, 2013

The following Resolutions have been issued by the General Assembly of Pirate Parties International in Kazan

Pirate Movement is not Sea Piracy

We, the members of the Pirate Parties of the world, the members of Pirate Parties International, declare that democracy and the right for uniting are the most important values. Unfortunately, the members of pirate party of Russia do not have opportunity to officially create ts own party. Ministry of Justice of Russian Federation has already rejected in registration twice due to the fact that our state officials consider the word "pirat" in the meaning of sea bandits, robbing the marines. That is why Russian pirates do not have an opportunity to take part in the elections, that means that we do not posess the legal right to influence on shaping the russian legislature.

We call the ministry of justice of the Russian Federation upon the common sense and demand for admitting the reality. Pirate party of Russia does exist and is not binded with sea piracy. Piracy is an contemporary international political ideology of the extension of civil freedoms.

Worldwide Democracy

The General Assembly of Pirate Parties International

Condemn all dictatorships and regimes which deny human rights.

Recognize that the need to strengthen participation in political processes and democracy in the world has become urgent. The attempt to pass important, far-reaching global treaties that have the potential to influence the lives of everyone on the planet, without any public consultation (so called Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement ACTA), make it evident that an early involvement of the general public and parliaments in the international agenda setting process is urgently needed.

Notes that some supra-national organizations such as the European Union, the Pan-African Parliament, the Mercosur Community, the Arab League, the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe include parliamentary assemblies as treaty organs in order to involve elected representatives in their work.

Takes note of the fact that no parliamentary body exists within the framework of the United Nations, the World Bank group, the International Monetary Fund, or the World Trade Organization. We believe that the lack of parliamentary representation in these organizations strongly contributes to the international democratic deficit.

States support for the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) as a parliamentary body within the UN system that is complementary to the UN General Assembly, calling for the creation a body that is directly elected by earth's citizen.

Calls upon world governments to include the involvement of citizens in the practice of making large scoped far-reaching decisions by utilizing general referendums

Appeals to legislators to introduce rules that would ease the process of the foundation of new political parties, to include the parties that do not have political representation in parliaments into the state funding regulations and to reduce or eliminate the barring clauses that are obstructing especially newly created parties.

Prague GA, 2012

Prague declaration

Signed by 28 European member parties

The assembled European Pirates signed below agreed on the following:

I.

We intend to run in the elections to the European Parliament in the year 2014.

II.

We declare the intent

to have a common election program included in the individual programs of the respective parties,

to coordinate our election campaigns,

to cooperate closely in the European Parliament on the realisation of our common program.

III.

The common program shall consist of components regarding European policies that have been approved by participating parties. Every participating party will be able to set forth its opinion and report the state of its procedure regarding every proposal.
IV.

We agree to establish a political party at European level [1].

V.

We propose this declaration for ratification to the competent bodies of the European Pirate Parties.

[1] Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003, as later amended.

Friedrichshafen GA, 2011

Bradley Manning

Signed by 14 members

The Conference notes the appalling treatment of Bradley Manning, accused of passing material to Wikileaks. It is important to note that he is not convicted of any crime. Currently he is under military arrest, where he has been for nearly 300 days. He has been held in solitary confinement 23 hours a day in a tiny windowless cell. He has been under intolerable psychological pressure. He has been forced to strip naked.

Now he faces a new set of charges, including “aiding the enemy”. This charge is a capital offence – it opens up the possibility of the death penalty. It is a sad day when someone just accused of trying to expose war crimes is treated worse than those who actually commit them.

Therefore Pirate Party International urge:

The immediate end of the inhumane treatment of Bradley Manning.

Pirate Parties and members to take part in the international protests at the charges and the conditions [of] Bradley Manning. March 20th will be a day of protest in the US and Europe, a further demonstration is planned in Berlin for March 26th.

The British government to intervene and request consular access, as Bradley Manning is entitled to British citizenship due to his Welsh mother.